New Orleans Hornets rookie Anthony Davis will be a star, executive says

As the player development director for the Portland Trail Blazers, Hersey Hawkins has seen many young players emerge as professionals, and Hawkins said Hornets rookie forward Anthony Davis is a step ahead of the majority of the players he has scouted. With Davis’ ability to impact games with his defense and his potential to develop offensively, Hawkins said the 19-year-old power forward the Hornets selected with the first pick of this year’s draft is destined to become a star in the NBA.

Anthony Davis

Davis was excused from playing on the Hornets’ summer league team after he was invited to play on the U.S. Olympic team.

“I saw him play in college a few times, and he’s going to be a franchise-changer,” said Hawkins, who played 13 seasons in the NBA as a guard before retiring in 2001. “I think of course, defensively, everybody knows what he does with blocking and changing shots. But this guy has skills in handling the ball pretty well, so he’s definitely going to be someone to reckon with for years to come.”

Most NBA scouts and general managers agree with Hawkins that Davis has the potential to become an impact player after only one season of college basketball at Kentucky. With the Wildcats, Davis was the national Player of the Year and helped them win the national championship after averaging 14.2 points and 10.4 rebounds last season.

“He’s definitely got the skill level and talent to be a good, solid NBA player,” said Milwaukee Bucks summer league coach Jim Boylan.

Hawkins said Davis’ development will be accelerated from playing on the U.S. Olympic team with stars such as LeBron James, Tyson Chandler and Kevin Durant.

Davis, 6 feet 10 with a 7-4 wingspan, has played in two of Team USA’s three exhibition games going into today’s contest against Argentina. In Thursday’s victory against Great Britain, Davis scored 11 points in 13 minutes and blocked four shots.

“When you’re around so many veteran guys on the Olympic team, you are not really asked to go in there and do anything spectacular,” Hawkins said. “You just have to fit in, but you are learning from the best players.”

Hornets Coach Monty Williams said playing on the U.S. Olympic team is going to help Davis’ confidence surge before he arrives for training camp in October.

“I think any time you can be around those kind of players, it’s going to help him grow,” Williams said. “I just told him to embrace the nerves and hesitation, not many young guys in his position get a chance to play.”

New Orleans native Randy Livingston, who worked as a coach on the Boston Celtics’ summer league team this past week, said Davis is a special player.

“He’s super long, athletic and looks like he has a high basketball IQ and a high motor,” Livingston said. “So those things you can’t teach, you’ve got it and (you’re) blessed with it. I think he’ll learn as the season goes along.”

NBA-TV analyst and former NBA guard Greg Anthony said what makes Davis a superb shot-blocker is his ability to anticipate and the fact that he is a step quicker than most players.

“He plays big although he has a slight build because of his great timing and anticipation,” Anthony said. “That makes that 7-4 wingspan play more like 7-8 or 7-9.”